Uvalde: Photo shows armed officers inside the school but they still waited an hour to act

• The first photo from inside the Uvalde school has been released.
• The shocking image shows officers equipped with rifles and ballistic shields just 19 minutes after the shooter went in.
• Despite being inside, it took nearly an hour for police to act.

Multiple police officers armed with rifles and at least one ballistic shield were inside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde 19 minutes after gunman Salvador Ramos arrived, according to documents reviewed by the Austin American Statesman newspaper. The paper also released the first image of the school’s interior, showing officials standing around waiting.

The static image, taken from a surveillance camera, becomes chilling when you observe the armed officers inside the school and remember that it took them almost an hour to act to stop the massacre carried out last month by Salvador Ramos, who was ultimately killed, according to the New York Post and the Daily Mail.

Armed officers with bulletproof shields entered the school in Uvalde minutes after Salvador Ramos

The new details were included in reports from the Austin American Statesman and KVUE on Monday, June 20. They are the latest revelations about the controversial police response to the May 24 mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 students and two teachers dead.

Surveillance camera footage from inside the school showed armed officers inside a hallway at 11:52 a.m. after gunman Salvador Ramos stormed the school at 11:33 a.m. through an exterior door that had not locked automatically, the Post noted.

The first photo of the interior of the school after shooter entered

The new account contradicts previous reports that Uvalde School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who was in charge of the police response, was waiting for tactical gear and a protective bulletproof shield to move forward and subdue the gunman.

“There were 19 officers in there,” Col. Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said at a media briefing days after the mass shooting. “In fact, there were plenty of officers to do whatever needed to be done, with one exception — the incident commander inside believed they needed more equipment and more officers to do a tactical breach at that point.”

«If there’s kids in there, we need to go in there,» an officer in Uvalde was heard saying

Security camera footage from the school, as well as police body camera video, show officers had enough firepower and protection to take down the gunman much sooner than they did, the Statesman report said.

The first ballistic-shielded officer to enter the school wondered why they didn’t try to enter the room. «If there’s kids in there, we need to go in there,» the officer said on body camera footage. At 12:03 pm, an officer arrived with another shield, followed by a third two minutes later, KVUE reported, as quoted by the Post.

What caused the delay?

After trying to talk to Salvador Ramos, Arredondo told the SWAT officers who arrived that they should burst into the classroom door as soon as they were ready, at 12:46 p.m. They reportedly finally burst into the classroom four minutes later and shot and killed the gunman.

Based on footage of the incident and Arredondo’s own testimony, it is believed that part of the delay was due to his attempts to find the keys to open the classroom door, as it was unclear if it was locked. Police didn’t even check or try to open it, despite having access to a Halligan tool that could have broken the lock, the San Antonio Express News reported. Arredondo tried dozens of keys but told officers to wait for a tactical team when no keys worked, the report said. The Texas Department of Public Safety is investigating the officers’ response to the mass shooting.